Increasing vandalism against electricity supply equipment and theft of electricity has created a need for better locks for electric meter boxes. In the past it has been common to provide a lock assembly which comprises a housing attached to the box in such a manner that the box cover cannot be opened when the housing is in place. The housing is locked in place by a lock of the barrel-lock type.
Such devices that are in common use have the disadvantage that they must be disassembled from the box to allow the box to be opened by service personnel, and the device must then be replaced after the box is closed. Such a procedure is time consuming and also provides the possibility that components of the assembly can be misplaced or lost.
An improved device is disclosed in a co-pending application Ser. 286,583 filed July 24, 1981 by James A. Swisher and now U.S. Pat. No. 4,475,365. In this device, a support block is attached to the meter box, and a housing is hinged to the support block, so that a portion of the housing can swing in front of and away from a position in front of the meter box cover. Aligned openings in the support block receive a barrel lock, so that opening of the housing when the barrel lock is in place is resisted by the shear strength of the barrel lock.